"What's going on?!"
Ou Cha, commanding from the central position, immediately asked upon witnessing the sudden change.
Though his tone was urgent, there was no trace of panic.
Song Hongguang quickly replied:
"The warships from Jiuding Valley, which had been scattered throughout the battlefield, exploded. The impact on the grand formation is massive… The spatial seals are already starting to collapse, and the formation can barely withstand the constant attacks from so many cultivators!"
Ou Cha's expression darkened slightly.
"That shameless old ghost prepared this well he doesn't even care about sacrificing his disciples..."
He clenched his teeth, then made a decisive call:
"We were prepared for something like this too. Since the formation won't hold much longer and Jiuding Valley's forces can no longer maintain the upper hand anyway…"
"Then withdraw most of the formation's power and redirect everything we can to support Martial Uncle Black Flood Dragon. As long as he kills that old ghost, we can use his remaining strength to wipe out the rest of the Wu Nation army!"
"Understood!"
Song Hongguang immediately accepted the order, enduring the backlash from controlling the formation earlier. He began to reconfigure it, channeling the remaining energy toward the black flood dragon.
All the while, he ignored the scattered limbs and corpses floating in the water from the earlier explosions.
Through his life-bound puppet, Li Ye could observe everything happening within the formation with crystal clarity.
"So they detonated high-powered spiritual devices, even at the cost of their people, just to disrupt the formation…"
"Well, it worked the formation's nearing its limit. The spatial partitions are falling apart, and the battle has now fully spread to engulf all of Thousand Island Water City."
"Hmm? They're cutting power from the formation to boost the black flood dragon instead…"
"A wise move but I doubt they'll get the chance…"
Li Ye shook his head slightly.
In his view, even without the formation's enhancements, the black flood dragon's strength should not be inferior to that of Jiudingzi, a pseudo-core cultivator.
If they truly fought head-to-head, the outcome would be hard to predict.
And Jiudingzi no matter how much he enjoyed flattery surely wouldn't make a careless mistake when it came to a life-or-death decision like this. He wouldn't underestimate his opponent unless he had another trump card ready after breaking the formation.
ROAR!
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a piercing and anguished howl suddenly rang out across the sky.
It came from the black flood dragon!
Li Ye's expression instantly turned grim and serious.
Whether or not he needed to intervene would depend entirely on what happened next.
.......
"Hahaha! You've been struck by the Dragon-Subduing Spike that I painstakingly refined no matter how powerful you are, you won't be able to use any of your abilities now…"
"Even with the grand formation boosting you, your spiritual energy is draining fast. Tell me, Black Flood Dragon, how much of your strength do you still have left?"
High above Thousand Island Water City, Jiudingzi laughed loudly and without restraint.
Not far from him, the black flood dragon writhed in agony, its pain obvious to all.
Even with the grand formation continuously channeling spiritual power into its body, it couldn't stop the blood from gushing out or the spiritual energy from leaking uncontrollably.
Looking closely, one could see a wooden spike deeply embedded beneath its reverse scale. Faint dark green patterns were spreading outward from the spike, already covering most of its massive body.
Waves of black water pounded against the spike, but even so, it couldn't be dislodged or neutralized for the moment!
Despite Jiudingzi's taunting, the black flood dragon could only roar furiously but its aura was far weaker than before.
With the collapse of the spatial barrier, the entire city's cultivators could now witness the scene with their own eyes.
In an instant, the morale of Thousand Island Water City plummeted.
Without the Tier-3 black flood dragon to hold Jiudingzi at bay and with the grand formation mostly destroyed by the enemy's explosions they simply had no chance of resisting Jiuding Valley!
Continuing to fight would be nothing more than choosing how soon they would die.
"Impossible?!"
This time, Ou Cha could no longer keep his composure.
"Dragon-Subduing Wood? How could such a material even be found in the Four Nations? And it just so happens to fall into Jiuding Valley's hands?!"
"Senior Brother, what should we do now?"
Seeing Ou Cha clearly shaken, and the formation still unresponsive, Song Hongguang was beginning to despair.
"Without Martial Uncle Black Flood Dragon, we're no match for Jiudingzi... The tools Master left us are only enough to help us escape, not turn the tide."
Ou Cha shook his head bitterly.
"Right now, our only choice is to abandon the city!"
"You would give up the legacy our master left us?!" Song Hongguang glared at him but after a moment, his expression crumbled and he nodded.
"Only by surviving do we have a chance to avenge and reclaim what's lost… Junior Brother, activates what remains of the formation's power. While Martial Uncle Black Flood Dragon can still hold out, we must move now!"
Ou Cha gave the order, and the moment he did, many cultivators within the city had already begun fleeing.
Among them were even direct disciples of Bihu Sanren, their sect's founder.
In a flash, chaos consumed the city people fled for their lives, others fought desperately, while some looted and destroyed.
Friend and foe alike contributed to the chaos, and Thousand Island Water City descended into utter bedlam a city on the verge of collapse!
Jiudingzi watched it all with a satisfied grin.
Once a man too afraid to provoke even the smallest powers, now, under his lead, a great city was crumbling. Soon, everything of value would belong to him.
He turned to look at the black flood dragon, whose body was faltering and about to crash into the water below.
In a cold voice, he declared:
"Today, you all die. And as for your demon core, Black Flood Dragon I'll be taking that as well!"
As his words fell, the golden cauldron in his hand suddenly radiated with intense light, expanding as it released eight illusory cauldrons, each shooting out to surround the black flood dragon, cutting off any route of escape.
The original cauldron flew forward, gleaming with golden brilliance, carrying the weight of crushing power as it descended straight toward the dragon.
Just then, as Ou Cha was about to step into a hidden waterway, he saw this scene, eyes bloodshot with fury:
"Martial Uncle Black Flood Dragon… we will never forget this. One day, we will avenge you…"
But in the very next moment, his expression froze shock and confusion on his face.
"Huh?!"
Swoosh
A talisman, also glowing with golden light, flew through the air and suddenly flared with brilliance.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
With the sound of metal striking metal, a glowing barrier, patterned like interlocking bricks, appeared in front of the black flood dragon.
A Tier-3 talisman Iron Wall Fortress!
Clang!
The golden cauldron struck the barrier it shuddered, then shattered.
But the cauldron's power was mostly drained and it was forced to rebound backward.
"Who's there?!"
Jiudingzi's eyes narrowed sharply. He instantly recalled the cauldron and floated it above his head, the eight illusory cauldrons orbiting defensively. He was clearly on guard.
At that moment, within the shattered remnants of the formation, a few previously inactive, seemingly unrelated formation nodes suddenly came alive.
In mere moments, they were incorporated into the grand formation and somehow, its power began flowing toward a new controller.
Not only was the area sealed off again, cutting off exits and entries, but the rich spiritual energy within the formation was now at the mysterious figure's command.
From beneath the water, a figure clad in full armor rose slowly his face obscured, his identity concealed.
Around him flowed a blue-black stream of true essence, exactly like Bihu Sanren's. Countless puppets linked together, forming what looked like a battle formation, shocking the onlookers.
Even Jiudingzi's heart trembled.
Then, the power of the formation surged toward this figure, forming rushing streams of water that were absorbed into his body only a small amount hovered around him like a swirling aura.
His aura rose rapidly.
As the water consumed both him and the puppets, his form began to swell and transform.
In an instant, he became a towering giant his body surrounded by nine black water flood dragons, standing atop the lake, a pearl shining above his head.
Looking down at Jiudingzi, he spoke with a calm, thunderous voice:
"Fellow Daoist Jiudingzi, please hold your hand…"
"This Thousand Island Water City I shall protect it!"
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